The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus with a compressor and a condenser arranged in a cooling circuit, where the compressor is arranged in a recess in the interior of the housing of the apparatus and the condenser in a convection shaft open to the recess, the shaft having air inlets in its lower area and air outlets in its upper area, where a shaft wall forms the rear wall of the housing of the apparatus. The condenser consists of a serpentine-shaped tube assembled in one plane. Cooling air enters the shaft through the air inlets, cools the condenser and emerges through the air outlets. Air also enters the recess through a lower opening, cools the compressor, flows through the shaft and leaves it through the air outlets.
The apparatus of the present invention is particularly well suited for use in post-mix beverage-vending machines, in which carbonated water is blended with beverage concentrates, for cooling the final ingredients of the beverage to a suitable temperature for dispensing a cooled drink from the machine. The apparatus is equally suited for beverage-vending vending machines in which bottles or cans of a pre-mix drink are stored at an adjustable temperature lower than ambient temperature.
A housing for a domestic beverage-vending machine with a cooling apparatus including evaporator and condenser is already known from German Registered Design 78 38 836. There the cooling apparatus and condenser are arranged in a common space within the housing. The condenser, which consists of a cooling coil assembled in a single plane, stands vertically inside the housing of the vending machine and is surrounded by vertical walls that form a convection shaft. Air from around the vending machine passes through air inlets in the floor of the common space to the condenser, there picks up heat and emerges from the housing through air outlets. The shaft-shaped arrangement of the space in the condenser area thus forms a chimney for the stream of cooling air. The intended chimney effect, however, is limited and does not meet increased demands on the cooling system.